Grammy- and Juno-award winning singer and songwriter Sarah McLachlan performed for an intimate crowd at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips / -

Concerts don’t get much more intimate than at Hope Live. An engaged and enthusiastic audience filled the cosy 262-seat theatre of the GCTC on Monday to take in a live show from Canadian superstar Sarah McLachlan and Newfoundland singer Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea fame, with one of Canada’s most popular television personalities, Rick Mercer, back to host it all.

Canadian television star Rick Mercer, from The Rick Mercer Report, was back to host Hope Live, a gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips /
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Whether it was Doyle singing a capella and inspiring a lively sing-a-long or McLachlan talking openly between songs about her late dad (“my rock”) and of raising two daughters (“by far my greatest joys, my biggest challenges”), the vibe was more musical party than concert.

Hope Live was created by cancer survivor and Corner Brook, Nfld.-native Heidi Bonnell to raise money for Fertile Future, a charity that helps young people preserve their chance of fertility after a cancer diagnosis. This year marked the seventh instalment of “the little event that could”, with Interac returning as presenting sponsor.

Heidi Bonnell, vice president of federal government affairs at Rogers Communications, is committee chair of the successful Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016, and featuring Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle and Rick Mercer.Caroline Phillips /
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Bonnell, who’s vice president of federal government affairs for Rogers Communications, gave a special shout on stage to her good friend Mercer, who also hails from The Rock, and to her husband, Joseph Galimberti.

In the non-partisan audience of politicians, journalists and business elites was newly-appointed Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe, seen mingling with fellow Newfoundlanders, like former premier and federal Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin and Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan, whose father is a judge back in Newfoundland.

From left, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe chats with a fellow Newfoundlander, Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan (his dad is a judge in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador) at the Hope Live benefit for Fertile Future, held Monday, November 21, 2016, at the GCTC.Caroline Phillips /
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Also present was U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman, who Mercer compared to Superman. “He came for a visit, his home planet was destroyed, and now he can never go back,” the host of CBC’s The Rick Mercer Report joked of the recent disastrous presidential election results.

Mercer even took his political-satire shtick to a municipal level. He spoke highly of Mayor Jim Watson while also noting that his presence at the gala surely meant no light-rail transit tunnel under construction had collapsed that day. “Who would have thought it’d be such a challenge to drive a tunnel through somewhere called Sandy Hill?” he quipped.

Mayor Jim Watson with Gary Clement, senior manager of government relations with TD Bank, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016, and featuring Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle and Rick Mercer.Caroline Phillips /
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The evening featured food and drinks before the show, along with a nightcap afterward, catered by Stephen Beckta and Chef Michael Moffatt’s renowned Beckta dining and wine, Play food and wine, and Gezellig restaurants.

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Around Town photos: Hope Live gala

From left, CTV political commentator Craig Oliver with Emma Breen and Chris Breen at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held Monday, November 21, 2016, at the GCTC. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe chats with a fellow Newfoundlander, Liberal MP Seamus O'Regan (his dad is a judge in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador) at the Hope Live benefit for Fertile Future, held Monday, November 21, 2016, at the GCTC. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, restaurateur Stephen Beckta of Beckta dining & wine, Play food & wine and Gezellig, with U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman at the Hope Live benefit for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Hope Live talent Rick Mercer, Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle and singer and fiddler Kendel Carson with event chair Heidi Bonnell and singer and guitarist Cory Tetford at the gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Quebec NDP MP Pierre Nantel with attendee Elizabeth Logue at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal MP Scott Simms with Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife, from the Globe and Mail, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Speaker of the House of Commons Geoff Regan snaps a quick photo of Conservative MP Lisa Raitt on her phone with newly appointed Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe at the Hope Live benefit for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

Chef de cuisine Katie Ardington from Beckta dining and wine shucks oysters during the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

Grammy- and Juno-award winning singer and songwriter Sarah McLachlan, at the piano, performed for an intimate crowd at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Canadian television star Rick Mercer, from The Rick Mercer Report, was back to host Hope Live, a gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Mayor Jim Watson with Gary Clement, senior manager of government relations with TD Bank, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016, and featuring Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle and Rick Mercer. Caroline Phillips/-

Newfoundland's Alan Doyle performed for an intimate crowd at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Heidi Bonnell, vice president of federal government affairs at Rogers Communications, is committee chair of the successful Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016, and featuring Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle and Rick Mercer. Caroline Phillips/-

Rogers Communications vice chairman Phil Lind with Alison Clayton from the Canada Media Fund board of directors, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Ontario Conservative MP Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka) with former Edmonton Conservative MP James Rajotte, now a vice president with Rogers Communications, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Dylan Tansey with Jane Moore from the National Arts Centre Foundation and David McGown, a senior vice president with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, at the Hope Live benefit for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Erica Leslie with her father, Chief Government Whip and Orleans MP Andrew Leslie, and Canada's Ottawa bureau chief Althia Raj from The Huffington Post at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Susan Smith, principal at Bluesky Strategy Group, with Ontario Liberal MP Jennifer O'Connell (Pickering-Uxbridge), Mike Kenney, and Jennifer Flanagan, president and CEO of Actua, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Supreme Court Justice Malcolm Rowe with Don Martin, host of CTV News' Power Play, and former Newfoundland premier and Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Denise Siele with Lasia Babiak, executive director of government affairs and policy for Johnson & Johnson, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Grammy- and Juno-award winning singer and songwriter Sarah McLachlan performed for an intimate crowd at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Darlene Stone from PALaerospace with Summa Strategies president Tracey Hubley and Cameron Bishop, director of government affairs for Privateer Holdings, and his girlfriend with the same last name, Jo Bishop, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert held at GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

Kara Chafe with Brian Chafe, CEO of PALaerospace, and its chief commercial officer, Michael Sangster, with Tracey Hubley, president of Summa Strategies and a member of the organizing committee for Hope Live, a gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

From left, Phil Upshall with the Mood Disorders Society of Canada with Conservative Manitoba MP Candice Bergen, Newfoundland-native Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, with vice president Michel Rodrigue at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert for Fertile Future, held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016. Caroline Phillips/-

From right, Ontario MP Lisa Raitt, who's vying to become the next leader of the Conservative party, with Nova Scotia Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner, left, and her sister, Cora Lee Starzomski and brother-in-law Jonathan Howes, at the Hope Live gala evening and benefit concert held at the GCTC on Monday, November 21, 2016.Caroline Phillips/-

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